Category — Shops to Love

There are close to 5,000 farmers markets in the US, according to the Department of Agriculture. My favorite? The Vancouver Farmers Market, of course!

The market opened on Saturday and it was packed. The sunny weather helped attract a crowd that was absolutely elbow to elbow during the noon hour. We were pleased to purchase a whole, cooked crab, beets, pears, carrots, Chinese broccoli and, for Gary, a massive ginger snap cookie.

Many food booths were doing a line out the door business, so to speak. Paella, gumbo, stir fries, seafood chowder, strawberry shortcake, there were plenty of choices. My favorite tamale stand wasn’t there but will be in the near future.

As always, the flower vendors were making spectacular bouquets, although I always worry about the daffodil and tulip combos because, if not soaked alone for 24 hours, daffodils secrete a sap that can destroy the tulips. Nonetheless, the arrangements were stunning.

The crafts are always colorful at the market and beautifully made. These felt hats could have been the subject of a still life painting.

And no market is complete without entertainment. A belly dancer provided the noon time performance. I covet her flat stomach!

One of the best things about the market is knowing that it will happen every weekend now through October. Except for perhaps kayaking, I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday morning.

“A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking.” Jerry Seinfeld

Bookstore owners are a hardy (and hearty) bunch. With low profit margins and high overhead, bookstore ownership is not for the faint-hearted. Toss in the pressure from online sales and chain bookstores, and booksellers are downright courageous to be in the industry. We are lucky to have them.

On the Long Beach Peninsula of the Washington Coast, four tenacious booksellers are passionate about books. From Ilwaco to Long Beach to Ocean Park, they serve their communities and thousands of visitors. Open hours may vary with the season, so call ahead for details.

Time Enough Books, Ilwaco

Time Enough Books (157 Howerton Avenue, Ilwaco Harbour Village at the Port of Ilwaco, 360-642-7667) surely must have one of the best views of ANY bookstore in the country. Overlooking the Ilwaco marina, just inside the Columbia River bar, and its commercial and recreational boat fleets, the store is a mainstay of the shops and restaurants along the harbor walk. Fresh seafood is nearby. May through September, the promenade in front of the store features a Saturday market. Depending on the season and weather, there can be a lot happening here.

After collecting and dealing books and filling their home with tomes for “years and years” and inspired by Portland’s Powell’s Books and Robert’s Books of Lincoln City, Karla and Peter Nelson opened Time Enough Books in May 2000. At that time most of the buildings along the harbor were boarded up. Karla had, in fact, cleaned fish as a teenager in the building. It was a “leap of faith,” she says.

Time Enough Books now operates a 7 day a week, year-round shop featuring 80% new and 20% used books. “Every book is handpicked by me,” Karla says. She is happy to recommend titles, including favorites from the book group, which meets at the store. Harper Lee, a golden lab, is the store greeter.

While all genres are stocked, not surprising, the maritime section is a strong one, reflecting Peter Nelson’s experience as a seaman. Chairs by the fireplace encourage reading. And if you haven’t found just the right book (or even if you have), Harper Lee will keep you entertained.

Banana Books, Long Beach

You won’t find very many banana trees in Long Beach, but you will find Banana Books (114 3rd Street, SW, Long Beach, 360-642-7005) in the old town part of the beach community. Owner Ed Gray worked for 20 years as a book scout and wholesaler or rare books. A small, year-round shop, Banana Books features used titles. “We have a good eye for titles that people are looking for,” says Ed. He knows his books.

His customers are 80% tourists with three-quarters of his business, like many other Peninsula shops, coming in June through September. (That’s a shame because the peninsula is so relaxing and conducive to reading in winter!) Many of his customers are looking for entertaining beach reads including titles by Patrick McManus, Clive Cussler and Carl Hiaasen. From literature to quick vacation books, Ed offers a diverse collection. Sadly, he doesn’t have much time to crack open his inventory. “I’m a bookseller but I don’t have a chance to read,” he says. He’s a fan of Raymond Carver.

More than books, the nine-year-old shop has an espresso bar and a large deck in front of the store. Jewelry shoppers should check out the stunning earrings and necklaces created by jewelry designer Mary Johnson, Ed’s wife. Another family member, Sobe, an American Staffordshire, will also be happy to meet you.

Catherine O’Toole Bookseller, Ocean Park

Antiquarian, rare and out-of-print books are the specialties of Catherine O’Toole Bookseller (1310 Bay Avenue, Ocean Park, 360-665-0004). Located in a historic 1880s building – a former Methodist Church and Moose Lodge – her shop is packed floor to ceiling with her collection, which numbers about 68,000 titles. She also carries new local history and guidebooks. “I can’t resist books,” she says. “It’s very gratifying to be able to say to a customer, ‘Oh yes, I’ve got that.’”

In a book-filled office in the front of the shop, Catherine spends her days online, selling her titles through biblio.com and other book sites, and shipping them around the world. Her business model of online selling keeps the store viable year-round.

She was born in Ireland, studied in England and moved to the US in 1967. She studied political science, horticulture and landscape architecture at the University of Washington, where she received her BA. A lifelong learner, Catherine now takes computer classes through the Grays Harbor College at the Community Education Center in Ilwaco. She is also perfecting her pool skills through a league at Doc’s Tavern down the block.

If she could turn back the clock, she would like to be a member of London’s Bloomsbury Group of Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster and other writers and artists. “They didn’t work,” she says.” They hung out being intellectuals.” Catherine hangs out with her thousands of books, her online and in-store customers and Jetsam, her black and white cat.

Adelaide’s Books, Ocean Park

Across the street from Catherine’s shop, another historic building houses a bookstore. As an owner of the Taylor Hotel (1887-mid-1930s), Adelaide Taylor spent more than 40 years running the lodging spot in the two-story wooden structure in Ocean Park. She died in 1940 but lives on through a bookstore named for her – Adelaide’s Books (1401 Bay Avenue, Ocean Park). Cyndy Hayward, a Seattle attorney who moved to Oysterville, bought the building with its expansive wrap-around porch and spent a year renovating it into an airy and inviting bookstore and coffeehouse. She opened the business in 2008.

Approximately 3,000 new books are well-organized from the children’s area with its charming mural to young adult, fiction, non-fiction collections and the poetry section, which Cyndy was advised against. The naysayer was wrong. “We sell poetry almost every day of the week,” Cyndy says proudly. She offers a diverse, handpicked collection. “We receive strong feedback on the quality of the books.” Miles, her friendly, full-sized poodle receives positive strokes, too. He blends right in as he sleeps on the loveseat.

The space is well-suited for game nights and author readings. The upstairs includes apartments and one day might house a low-power community radio station. “I want to make this into a community place,” she says. “Books. Coffee. Pastry. Talk.” is the shop’s tagline. What more could you want?

What would a pioneer woman think if she traveled through time to Momma Made It of Longview? She would, of course, be shocked at the autos, the asphalt, the development, but not the bolts of cloth.

Women on the Oregon Trail brought quilts that reminded them of loved ones left behind. Momma Made It is filled with 100% cotton fabrics with earthy warm colors and prints that would have looked at home in covered wagons and one-room cabins.

Owner Sharon Pennel started quilting while expecting the arrival of her daughter. Forty-two years later, she still loves the craft, opening Momma Made It in 1996 in a downtown Longview house. She recently moved the store to a larger space where she, and her staff of three, can host classes and quilting clubs.

The shop is neatly stocked with 2500 bolts of ever-changing fabric, featuring reproductions of traditional, homespun fabric of the 1800s plus quilting books, patterns and kits, some of which are Sharon’s own design and distributed nationally. Her own patterns are “inspired by antique quilts were have seen or imagined,” she reports. Her top quality fabric collection attracts quilters from around the region and advice is always available. “We have no aversions to giving a lesson on the spur of the moment,” Sharon says. “We’re in it for the fun.”

Open every day but Sunday, Momma Made It is located at 2121 8th Avenue in downtown Longview, 360.636.5631, www.mommamadeit.com

Sometimes the best getaway is close to home, very close to home. Downtown Camas is only 20 minutes from our house.  For a weekend in November, it was a perfect escape to shop, eat and celebrate our wedding anniversary at the new Camas Hotel. (More details on this lovely inn later.)

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Friday Night 7 p.m. K’Syrah Catering Wine and Bistro 212 NE 4th Avenue. K’Syrah is offering a tasting of Thanksgiving wines – perfect for the Friday night before the all the holiday gluttony begins. For $10 per person, we taste five excellent wines – Mercer Pinot Gris 2008, Primarius Pinot Noir 2007, La Quercia Montepulciano 2008, Ridge Three Valleys 2007 and Terre Gaie Sparkling white wine. We like them all but, darn, have to make a choice. We select the sparkling wine to offer with the dessert course on Thanksgiving. K’Syrah also offers three-course fixed price dinners on Friday nights. Menus are posted in the Web site.

Saturday Morning 10 a.m. There are a LOT of shops to explore so we start with a hearty breakfast at Natalia’s Cafe, 437 NE 4th Avenue. My veggie scramble with home potatoes is very good but Gary’s strawberry blintzes with whipped cream wins the best breakfast prizes for taste and presentation. Don’t miss the photo.

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Often the best shops are the smallest in size. Yvonne Edes and the folks at Shanti Yoga Center (800 Franklin, Suite 204, in downtown Vancouver) have transformed a room at the yoga studio into a lovely space of items that, in the words of the shopkeepers, “feed your soul.”

As you step into the shop, you will find charming displays of jewelry, statues, scarves and wall hangings. New petroleum and lead-free candles scented with essential oils and 2010 calendars have recently arrived. More then 300 CDs are available and the bookshelves are well-stocked with tomes to support a yoga practice and other related topics.

Tea aficionados will appreciate more than two dozen Yogi Tea choices as well as various other medicinal teas. The Shanti Shop collection also includes yoga supplies like mats and bolsters plus incense, journals and tealights. Have a friend who could use some support? This is a perfect place to find inspirational messages in cards and small wallhangings.

Yvonne and Shanti’s other wonderful instructors offer yoga classes for all levels seven days a week at the center. The shop is only open a half hour before and after each class or event (or by appointment) so check the class schedule for open hours. Extended hours are planned for the future. Better yet, take a class! Then find a personal gift at the shop for taking good care of yourself.

Sometimes you just have to put on your dancing shoes and hit the streets.  That happened in September when Main Street closed to traffic and opened to live music and lots of movement during Vancouver’s First Friday Artwalk.

Vancouver’s Downtown Association President Lee Couthard reported that 800 revelers participated during the evening event. From the 6th Street Gallery, Firehouse Glass and the Magenta Theater costume sale on lower Main Street up to North Bank and Angst, and spots in-between, galleries and restaurants were very busy.

The next First Friday Artwalk will be held on October 2 starting with a reception from 5 to 7 pm at Columbia Credit Union. Galleries will be open from 5 to 9 pm. Come ready to view and buy art, have dinner, see your neighbors. There is a LOT happening in downtown Vancouver!